| When We Were in Love | |H.S|

| 24 | Let 'Em Go |

'Sometimes you need the pain, to know it isn't love. Sometimes the one you hold, you gotta let 'em go.'

-Let Em Go. Matt Hansen. 2023.

| Lily |

The car ride here wasn't as bad as I thought. Harry and Jared actually had more in common than they realized. Growing up just twenty minutes away, they had a lot to talk about. Jared drove while I sat in the front seat and Harry and Lucy sat in the back. I knew I didn't mind or care what Lucy did in the house, especially since she paid half the rent. It was just something I had to get used to. It's not that I was jealous or anything, I just had to get used to be around Harry again.

He didn't scare me. He never hurt me. Although, I still felt such a small feeling of pain when he was near. And I can't put my finger on why. I was over the break up. I had such a healthy relationship at the moment. Such an amazing boyfriend. Why would I still be hung up on Harry? I wouldn't and I'm not.

I needed to get over this. I needed to make myself forget that we had any type of history if I was being honest. He belonged in my past even if he was going to be my future since he was with Lucy now.

We finally reached the restaurant and were quickly seated. Jared and Harry sat with each other on one side, while Lucy and I sat together across from them. As soon as we sat down, a waitress approached us.

"Hey! How are you guys?" A nice young girl said with a giant smile. She pulled out her notepad and pen, and continued on with that same smile.

"My name is Marcy, I'll be helping you guys out today. Can I get you any drinks?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll have an orange juice," Lucy started.

"Uh, double that, please?" Jared said right after. Harry then raised his hand and nodded a bit.

"Triple, actually," he said softly. All eyes were then on me.

"Uh, can I have a strawberry smoothie?" I asked, feeling bad I broke the chain of orange juice.

"Oh I'm so sorry! We actually don't have strawberry smoothies right now. Our shipment of strawberries is late, can I get you anything else?" She asked. I was a bit taken back. All the years I've been here, I've never seen them be out of anything.

"Oh uh- sorry, just one second," I began to scurry for the menu. I honestly never looked for anything else, so I was feeling the pressure of getting her my drink order.

"Uh, they have mango banana smoothie's if you'd like that?" Harry then said before I could find the drinks on the menu. Feeling relieved, I let out a big sigh.

"Oh yeah, I'll take that. Please," I said with a small embarrassed smile.

"Okay, no problem! I'll be right back with those drinks," she smiled then turning around. I looked at Harry and smiled.

"Thank you," he gave me a small smile in return and nodded his head.

"Yeah, sure," he said while grabbing his menu and opening it up. Jared looked at me with a confused smile. He then quickly flickered his eyes down to look at his menu. I felt a bit of awkwardness but I tried my best to brush it off. Especially at a time like this.

We all quickly got our meals and ate with small conversations here and there. They both, mainly Lucy, spent a lot of time talking to Jared. Asking him questions, about his home back in England, his work, and everything in between. Lucy and I shared some laughs about at home experiences, while Harry just added in some comments. He seemed shy, but also seemed like he was starting to open up a bit again.

"Okay, so call me crazy. But what are you guys doing later?" Lucy asked the table.

Everyone kind of looked around and shook their heads a bit indicating that nobody had plans.

"I think we should go out tonight," Lucy suggested.

"Where to?" I asked. Lucy slightly shrugged and sat back.

"I'm not sure, I still haven't explored the whole island," she said.

"I'm with you there," Jared slightly chuckled. Harry and I then looked at each other, both knowing that we were kind of in charge of suggesting plans.

"Uh, let's see.." I started.

"I mean, there's bowling, laser tag, the movies," Harry started suggesting.

"Mini golf?" I began to add on, "the arcade?.. uh.."

"There's gonna be some flying lanterns and boat rides later on," our waitress, suddenly said appearing with some refills for our drinks.

"Boat rides?" I asked.

"Flying lanterns?" Lucy added on.

"Yeah, like that Rapunzel movie? I guess some kids threw together their own little flying lantern event tonight," she said.

"That sounds so fun!" Lucy exclaimed. Harry looked at her with his eyebrows a bit raised and a small small on his face while he looked at her. He seemed to be amused with her. Happy with her. In my head I was smiling for them. Happy for them. But on the outside, my face seemed still. I'm not sure why. I had no emotion really with many things besides when I was with Jared.

"So, are we going to a boat ride tonight?" Jared spoke up facing me.

I looked at him and looked back at Harry and Lucy who were waiting for an answer.
I guess I couldn't let them down. I gave them a half smile and nodded my head a bit.

"Sure, why not?" I slightly smiled.

"Great! It's settled!" Jared said while wrapping his arm around my shoulder. Lucy looked beyond happy while she slightly clapped and leaned on Harry. Harry also had a smile on his face, seeming ready for the night. And meanwhile, there was me. A smile on my face but a frown in my heart because for some reason, even spending time with Jared right now didn't sound appealing. I just wanted to sleep and forget about everyone. Hopefully this is just the sleep deprivation speaking because what other reason could be keeping me happy from spending time with Jared? My love?